


Tenerife Sea

by thespinningmeanie



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 17:09:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13768692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thespinningmeanie/pseuds/thespinningmeanie
Summary: After three serenades Belle is set to meet her admirer on a dinner date.Written for @a-monthly-rumbelling  Non-Smut Prompt: Love Letter, Candy Hearts, Chocolate, Roses, Blind Date





	Tenerife Sea

**Author's Note:**

> @mariequitecontrarie looked over this, thank you!!!

Belle surreptitiously checked her appearance in the mirror. She wore a blue lace sweetheart dress paired with her favorite red pumps.. A glance at the clock told her that she still had thirty minutes before eight.

She has a date - a blind date. It’s been months since her last attempt at dating, and that makes her nervous.

She shut the door to her apartment and went down the stairs as she reminisces how she got into this situation.

A few days ago, Henry and the other children started a gig to save up money so they could buy candies and chocolates without using their own allowances. They surprised everyone inside the diner when they cornered Sister Astrid, then serenaded her and gave her candy hearts. They said the gifts were from a secret admirer and announced to everyone that they would accept song requests and would serenade the object of anyone’s affection–for a price. While most of the patrons tried to guess the identity of Sister Astrid’s secret admirer, Belle was busy daydreaming of a certain pawnbroker whose shop sat directly across the street from the library.

She wondered if Mr. Gold would ever consider serenading her.

Since she moved to Storybrooke five years ago, she had gotten close with Mr. Gold. She saw past his cold exterior and eventually he warmed up to her. They became friends. Their friendship is the best thing that has happened to her since she moved here. But she can’t help but hope that he would show a romantic interest in her and turn their relationship into something more.

It took Ruby three times to get her attention. “Belle…” Ruby smiled. “Fantasizing about Gold again?”

“No! Of course not. I’m sorry, I just…”

The look on Ruby’s face told her she wasn’t fooled. Belle sighed. Everyone seemed to know how she felt about Gold. Everyone except Gold.

Belle was about to leave with her takeout when Henry called her back. At Henry’s signal, the children formed a line in front of her and sang. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out who might’ve asked them to serenade her, but no one came to mind. When they finished singing, the question was on the tip of her tongue but Henry pulled an envelope from his pocket and read an endearing message from the black paper inside it. Henry gave her the letter, but refused to disclose the identity of her admirer.

The next serenade happened at the library, only this time Henry handed her a box of chocolate truffles before heading home with the book he checked out. When she opened the box she also found a letter written in gold ink on a black paper tucked inside. Same paper and same writing as last time.

The last serenade–the one that got her into this date–occurred inside Mr. Gold’s pawnshop. She had just dropped in to look at his first edition book collection. - It was the perfect excuse to visit so she could spend more time with him. This time it was Neal and Henry. Neal took out a guitar from one of the cases and strummed notes while Henry sang.

Just like the last two serenades, it ended with Henry handing her gifts. This time it was a book. A book she have never read before, which intrigued her.

Henry called her attention and read a message from a familiar black paper.

“Twice you’ve asked Henry who I am. I surmised that you might ask him again, believing that third time’s the charm but I’ve decided that I, myself, would reveal who I am to you if you’d care to have dinner with me tomorrow at eight.”

Henry’s eyebrows furrowed, the same way his grandfather’s did when a silent question is being asked.

“Aren’t you curious?” Gold chimed in from his place behind the counter.

“Well…” How could she tell him she’d been hoping it was him? That she’d felt more than friendship for him for years.

“Come on, Belle. Surely his–or her–identity has been on your mind for days,” Neal goaded which didn’t help..

She turned around to gauge Gold’s reaction, only to find that he’d disappeared into the back room of the shop.

Belle sighed. “All right.”

Neal and Henry whooped, and in their excitement they forgot to give Belle the time and place she was to meet her admirer. Belle was about to run after them when Gold emerged from the back.

“Be at Granny’s at eight,” he said.

Belle skidded to a stop, her hands trembling as she turned to face Gold.

“W-What?” she said in an incredulous tone, her heart a beating staccato.

“Your date. Eight in the evening at Granny’s,” Gold drawled with a shrug.

“Did you - ”

Before she could get the question out Gold cut her off and explained that he overheard Neal and Henry talk about it during breakfast.

“It seems that lunch is over Miss French.”

“Oh.” she felt dejected at being dismissed, but still she managed to give him a smile. “See you.”

Gold gave her that crooked grin that made butterflies flutter in her stomach. “Yes. Soon.”

Belle was brought back from her musings when she saw the neon lights above the diner. The walk from her house had taken no time at all and she had already arrived. It was time for her date, and time for her to finally find out the identity of her secret admirer.

As she approached the door, she saw Neal holding a guitar in one hand and Henry in the other. Henry beamed when he saw her, then gestured to someone from behind. Granny and Ruby came outside, and Belle spotted Jefferson on the sidewalk grinning from ear-to-ear, playing with the camera in his hands.

“What’s all this?” Belle asked.

Neal simply smiled and started plucking the strings of the guitar.

She recognised the tune immediately. How could she not, it was the song she heard on the radio the day she met Gold. It was also the tune Gold always hummed to soothe Henry when she was in the store perusing his books. It was the tune he hummed to calm her last winter when they were trapped in the pawnshop as lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

_The way it brings out the blue in your eyes is the Tenerife sea_

She didn’t notice that Henry had started to sing, but it didn’t matter. She knows her admirer is Gold. Thinking back over the previous serenades, he had given himself away. He used gold ink to write his messages, he gifted her her favorite chocolates, and a book. Gold being her admirer didn’t surprised her. Being her closest friend he knew her better than anyone. But she didn’t dare guess it was him because despite her talk of bravery she was afraid. Afraid to hope for him and be disappointed in the end.

The chorus was beginning when the man himself emerged from the shadows. His cane tapped on the ground as he limped towards her with an unfailing grace.

He looked handsome in his suit. He wore a blue paisley shirt and matched it with a darker tie. His brown eyes were full of adoration, and Belle knew it was for her. She felt tears gather in her eyes.

Gold stopped, leaving only a few steps between them. Slowly he held out the hand he was hiding in his back and revealed a crimson rose.

“If you’ll have it.” His brow furrowed as his lips twitched upwards to form a hesitant smile. “And me.”

Belle threw herself into his arms for a hug. Her hands found their way into his hair and she felt Gold tighten his hold on her.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he breathed in her ear.

Belle snuggled closer, burying her face in his neck.

Belle had prayed and hoped for a sign that her feelings were reciprocated and she had received more than she ever dreamed.. They were not only friends, they had a future.

 _So in love_ she heard Neal and Henry sing. Yes, she has loved Gold, but looking at him now, a shy smile on his face, she fell more in love than she ever thought possible.


End file.
